Real Estate (Tier 1)
The remarkable De Pardieu Brocas Maffei has one of the ‘most comprehensive practices for handling transactions with property, corporate and tax aspects’ in France. The 25-lawyer group has ‘strong expertise and deals with all leading players showing strong execution skills’. It routinely advises many leading French and international property investors and banks on an impressive number of high-profile building and property portfolios investments and financing transactions every year, but also deals with commercial leases and asset management. The team recently handled a series of landmark transactions, such as assisting Natixis Assurances with the acquisition of a 49.9% stake in the “Tours Duo” project, Norges with the acquisition of the “6-8 Haussmann” office building, and Tishman Speyer Management OPCI with the acquisition and financing of the CBX tower in La Défense. The team includes many of the market’s leading names including Emmanuel Fatôme, Pierre Gebarowski, ‘an iconic lawyer for property acquisition and financing who displays strong technical skills and a strategic view on deals’, Guillaume Rossignol and the ‘brilliant’ Paul Talbourdet, who has ‘an extremely broad legal knowledge, points out real issues only and provides efficient solutions’. Tax property experts Emmanuel Chauve and Alexandre Blestel also rank among the best in their fields. Corporate partners Yannick Le Gall, Nicolas Favre and Guillaume Touttée are other names to note.
Insolvency (Tier 1)
The ‘excellent’ and ‘very responsive’ De Pardieu Brocas Maffei ‘provides exceptional quality work’ and ‘has a strong track record and experience in complex matters’. The practice is usually retained by leading banks and investment funds to advise on the market’s largest cases, while also sometimes receiving instructions from companies or its shareholders. Highlights included advising the senior secured lenders’ ad hoc committee on CGG’s €2.7bn debt restructuring, BPCE on William Saurin’s conciliation proceedings, and the creditors on Bourbon’s debt restructuring. Philippe Dubois ranks among the market’s most sought-after advisers, while Joanna Gumpelson is also highly regarded for her ‘excellent ability to simplify complex matters and provide highly practical advice’. Segolène Coiffet made partner.
Administrative and public law (Tier 3)
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei provides ‘exceptional quality advice, especially for energy regulatory and public procurement issues’. The five-lawyer team, which is a top reference for regulatory matters, recently completed landmark work in the transport and energy sectors. The firm also has strong public law and infrastructure expertise. Lenders and sponsors are clients. Highlights included assisting Antin Infrastructure Partners with the sale of its 35.6% stake in the CIM CCMP, and handled CNP Assurances’ acquisition of a 49.9% stake in Réseau de Transport d’Electricité alongside CDC. Practice head Christine Le Bihan-Graf is the key name.
Banking and finance – Transactional work (Tier 2)
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei’s expertise includes syndicated and acquisition financing, real estate and asset financing, project and structured finance. The team has experience in an array of sectors, with asset finance capability in the maritime, aeronautics and military sectors among others and project finance specialisms including infrastructure and energy, as well as transport and telecoms. Christophe Gaillard heads the ten-partner team, with Corentin Coatalem, Olivier Hubert, Yannick Le Gall and real estate expert Emmanuel Fatȏme also key contacts. Recent work includes advising a consortium of seven banks on the financing of a €400m revolving credit facility for OVH, as well as assisting the same banks with the debt refinancing as part of OVH’s global expansion strategy, and assisting French agricultural group Terrena with its €630m inaugural syndicated loan. In the acquisition finance space, the practice assisted BNP Paribas with the financing of the senior debt concerning Altrad’s acquisition of Cape. The group also acted for the European Investment Bank on the €500m financing for the construction of 13,000 intermediary housing units. Eramet, Bastide and Aareal Bank are also clients.
Dispute resolution – Commercial litigation (Tier 2)
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei is managing a highly diverse caseload of complex and challenging cases for various top financial French institutions and corporations, as well as international clients. The 16-lawyer practice handles high-stakes commercial, corporate and property-related disputes and recently obtained a series of favourable outcomes. It is representing Asian Broadcast Satellite in a dispute with Eutelsat, and is acting for Valeo in several cases including an industrial dispute with PSA. The firm is also a top choice for banks and is notably defending Dexia Crédit Local and Cacib in high-profile toxic loan cases initiated by French local authorities. It recently obtained four landmark decisions from the Versailles Court of Appeal for Dexia Crédit Local. Paul Talbourdet, Philippe Dubois, Barbara Levy and Dominique Lefort are top professionals.
Employment (Tier 2)
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei’s nine-lawyer team advises some of France’s most emblematic corporations, especially in the engineering, energy and transport sectors, on very challenging and strategic projects, including recent assistance with major restructuring matters. The practice also advises in the context of key M&A transactions. Philippe Rozec is highly recommended and counsel Elise Bénéat is another name to note.
EU, competition and distribution (Tier 2)
Clients describe De Pardieu Brocas Maffei’s Philippe Guibert and Laure Givry as ‘a great team which provides pragmatic advice’; the duo is supported by Emmanuel Durand, who has strong experience in sports and media law, Barbara Levy, who is the key contact for competition matters related to intellectual property, distribution and business law, and senior associate Pauline Patat. The practice’s recent caseload features a longstanding cross-border litigation on behalf of Booking.com before the Commercial Court of Paris filed by the Ministry of Economy as a result of a French Competition Authority investigation in the online travel agency sector, and Durand’s advice to the Gascogne group regarding its claim for compensation from the EU for excessively lengthy proceedings in the context of the European Commission’s decision to fine Gascogne’s subsidiary for cartel behaviour in 2005. On the merger control front, Guibert is advising Eurosic on its merger with Gecina.
Industry focus – Energy (Tier 2)
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei provides ‘exceptional quality work’. The ‘responsive and available’ practice ranks among the market’s few go-to-firms for highly strategic M&A and regulatory matters in France. It recently advised on several landmark transactions such as assisting Areva with the sale of Areva NP and Areva TA, as well as CNP Assurances with the joint acquisition of a 49.9% stake in Réseau de Transport d’Electricité. The practice is also ‘excellent’ for project finance work in the energy sector advising sponsors and lenders and notably assisting CIC and Auxifip with the €150m acquisition financing of a majority stake in a 330MW cogeneration facilities’ portfolio held by Dalkia. Bank of Tokyo, Neoen, Solaire Direct and Green Yellow are clients. The practice is co-headed by Christine Le Bihan-Graf who features among the market’s top regulatory advisers, and ‘brilliant’ project finance expert Jean-Renaud Cazali who has ‘very high level expertise’. Corporate partners Patrick Jaïs and Thomas Bréart de Boisanger are other names to note.
Intellectual property – Trade marks, designs and copyright – Trade marks, designs and copyright (Tier 3)
Barbara Levy heads the intellectual property offering at De Pardieu Brocas Maffei which has developed a particular expertise in commercial contracts for domestic and international clients. The group assisted Shiseido and Beauté Prestige International with an exclusive license agreement for Dolce & Gabanna products as well as with transitional distribution and intellectual property agreements with the previous licensee Procter & Gamble; and senior associate Claire Poirson was part of a cross-practice team advising Areva on IP aspects of its sale to EDF. Also noteworthy is Levy’s representation of VF Corporation in various trade mark, design and copyright disputes against JM Weston, and in a counterfeit litigation against Desigual pertaining to the client’s Vans brand.
Mergers and acquisitions (Tier 3)
At De Pardieu Brocas Maffei, the ‘reliable’ team is ‘client-oriented and proactive’ and provides ‘good response times’. The group acts for listed and non-listed companies on a broad range of matters, from mergers and acquisitions to joint ventures, reorganisations and disposals. Key sectors include financial services, real estate, energy, healthcare and TMT. The ‘pragmatic’ Patrick Jaïs is ‘a versatile and seasoned lawyer’, who is able to build ‘excellent client relationships’. Other key practitioners are Nicolas Favre, Guillaume Touttée, Cédric Chanas and Jean-François Pourdieu. Notable matters include advising Batipart Group as shareholders of Eurosic on Eurosic’s €3.3bn merger with Gecina, and acting for CNP Assurances on their acquisition of a 49.9% stake in Réseau de Transport d’Electricité. Axéréal, BFCM and Areva are also clients.
Private equity – LBO (Tier 2)
Largely active in mid- and upper mid-market transactions, De Pardieu Brocas Maffei acts for private equity funds and banks on equity and mezzanine transactions, with the set-up of senior debt a particular strength. The team handles buy-side and sell-side mandates and regularly acts for management teams. Jean-François Pourdieu is the key name, with Cédric Chanas also noted. The group handles a large volume of headline domestic transactions. The group advised 21 Centrale Partners and Digital Virgo and its management on the restructuring of Digital Virgo and the entry of Sofival and BNP Paribas Développement into Digital Virgo, and assisted Siparex, Unigrains, Raise Investisseurs, Etoile IF and EMZ Partners, as investors, on the acquisition of a minority share in Carso Group. In another highlight, it assisted Five Arrows Managers as co-investment partner on the l@D LBO. Examples of recent LBO financing work include advising a banking pool on the financing of the senior debt of Europe Snacks Group concerning the acquisition of Kolak Snack Foods, and assisting LCL and CM-CIC Private Debt with the financing of the senior debt for the acquisition of Ecotel Chomette Favor from Naxicap Partners. Other clients include Sphere Group, Natixis and Camaïeu.
Project finance (Tier 2)
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei has ‘excellent project finance’ expertise, especially for lenders. The practice recently advised on some of France’s largest broadband network PPP projects, including assisting the European Investment Bank with the financing of a high-speed internet network in the Hauts-de-France region. Energy is another strong field of expertise: here the group recently assisted the lenders (CIC and Auxifip) with the financing of a €150m acquisition of a majority stake in a 330MW cogeneration facilities’ portfolio held by Dalkia. The ‘brilliant’ Jean-Renaud Cazali impresses with ‘very high level expertise’ and ‘exceptional quality of work’; Christine Le Bihan-Graf is also involved in the regulatory and public law aspects.
Tax (Tier 2)
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei stands out for its ‘excellent technical level’ and ‘very nice and agreeable team’. The 13-lawyer practice is absolutely second-to-none regarding tax property issues and constantly advises on the largest transactions including on listed property companies’ M&A. Highlights included assisting Eurosic’s shareholder Batipart with the Eurosic-Gecina merger, Cardety with its merger-absorption of Carmila, and Natixis Assurances with the acquisition of a 49.9% stake in the Towers “Tours Duo”. Emmanuel Chauve stands out for his remarkable expertise and experience in property tax and Alexandre Blestel is another key name in the field, praised for his ‘high efficiency and skill in managing complex matters’. The firm also handles M&A and private equity tax transactions, while the recent hiring of a four-lawyer team from Ashurst LLP brings further strength in private equity and insolvency tax. Former Ashurst LLP practice head Nadine Gelli is ‘reliable, precise, technically excellent with great negotiation skills and excellent knowledge of the private equity field’.
Banking and finance – Transactional work
– Emmanuel Fatôme
Dispute resolution – Commercial litigation
– Dominique Lefort
EU, competition and distribution
– Philippe Guibert
Industry focus – Energy
– Christine Le Bihan-Graf
Insolvency
– Philippe Dubois
Real estate
– Emmanuel Fatôme
– Guillaume Rossignol
– Paul Talbourdet
– Pierre Gebarowski
Tax
– Emmanuel Chauve
Insolvency
– Joanna Gumpelson